Josephine's teacher asked each child what they are thankful for. Josephine is thankful for her dog. She insisted that she's thankful for her dog even after the teacher pressed her about the existence of said dog. At least she's thankful for something.
I'm thankful that we had relatives from America her for Thanksgiving dinner! Joe, Clara and Rebecca came. It felt like a real Thanksgiving instead of a patched-together gathering. Pascale was very excited to have SEVEN people at the table.
Cousins
The Dinner
Josephine dressed as a bride. Hopefully, she'll get over the thumb-sucking thing before her actual wedding day.
Pascale drew this pic of her imaginary friends
Josephine with Uncle Joe
Pascale with Father Christmas. Josephine fell asleep on the way there, so she did not get to see him.
Christmas decorations are appearing all over the city! Above is Sloane Square. They are really lovely, and they almost manage to take one's mind off the fact that it gets dark at 4:00. Christmas activities are starting, too. Ice rinks are opening and Christmas fairs are starting. We will manage to fill the time at least until Christmas.
Pascale told me that she is learning about the Magna Cardigan at school. This leads to 2 questions: What could they possibly be teaching 4-year-olds about the Magna Carta? And how does Pascale square the description with her mental image of an article of clothing?
In other cute Pascale news, I told her yesterday that it might snow today. She said, "Is it Christmas or Easter tomorrow?" Since it snowed on this past Easter, and we had snow last Christmas, she assumed that it only snows on holidays.
Pascale at a classmate's birthday party
Making chocolate chip cookies. You can't buy chocolate chips here, so I cut up chocolate bars instead. Man, were they good!
Pascale in the leaves
Josephine in the ballroom
Here they are making lots of noise at home. They are wearing their new pj's with the tags still attached.
We went to the Army Museum today, where they have a pretty spectacular indoor jungle gym. The also have a reading room where they have military-themed childrens' books. I was reading Pascale a book about Florence Nightingale, and I mentioned that she was a nurse in the Army. Pascale said, "She was here?" As in, was she at the Army Museum. Apparently, Pascale has no idea what the army is. She's seen toy soldiers, but I guess she thinks they're kind of like her toy fairies. I tried to explain, but it'll take some reiteration to get her to have an inkling of what the army is.
Both girls were sick with colds last week, so not many outings.
At the Army Museum
At the Royal Hospital grounds.
This hug happens every morning when Pascale is leaving for school.
At the Royal Hospital grounds. There's a lot of space there to run around there.
Bernie took the girls to Gambado yesterday, where Pascale got to show off her driving skills. This picture is a bit of a premonition, and it gives me a sinking feeling.
ON Wednesday, I showed Pascale the picture on my computer screen, and said, "This is Barack Obama. He's the new president of the United States!" This news was greeted with a withering look that said, "Why are you bothering me with this trivia? I'm playing." So, not all Americans in London were jubilant at Obama's victory. Just those over the age of 5. I'm happy with the outcome of the US election, but I'm also glad that it is OVER. I was getting pretty good at paying attention to UK news sources and becoming informed about things here, but with this election, I've been obsessed with American news. I'm hoping I can again get the hang of paying attention to local news.
pretending to be cats at the playground
Rebecca went to Spain and got flamenco dresses for the girls!
Pascale is wearing her Remembrance Day poppy.
I went to a tag sale and managed to get skiwear for both girls for our ski trip this year! This is a bit of a coup because that sort of thing is so expensive, and my kids will literally wear it for a week.
The need new sweaters like a hole in the head, but these were SO CUTE!
Pascale really wanted to go trick-or-treating this year, but I told her, as I did last year, that trick-or-treating only happens in America and we are in London. We went to 2 Haloween parties, one hosted by a classmate of Josephine's and one by a classmate of Pascale's. After the second party, the whole party went out trick-or-treating! Apparantly, they do it in the area of Pimlico just east of Sloane Square! Who knew? The trick-or-treating nabe was kind of a mob scene. At one point, Josephine got stuck on someone's front step when a large group of bigger kids converged. I had to burst through and extricate her. No damage was incurred. The kids had a great time being out after dark with lots of other kids. They were just crackling with excitement.
Somehow, Halloween is just not the event that it was when I was a kid. My kids wear costumes almost every day at home, so when it came time to go to the parties, I just told them to go put on costumes. I'll try to act more festive about it next year. Josephine wore her Disney Princess nightgown and Pascale wore her Wizard robe.
Last night was Bonfire Night, and again we had a great view from our window of the big fireworks in Battersea Park. Since it was pouring down rain, I was especially glad to be watching in the comfort of our own living room. Pascale has this great Bonfire Night poem that she learned at school, but she refuses to recite it for me any more, so I can't faithfully reproduce it. Part of it goes, "The flames are hot, our faces glow, waiting for the fireworks show!"
Bonfire Night, with commentary from Josephine
Haircut time!
Out for a walk
Trying on costumes at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Pascale made a teapot at the V&A in the craft section
Conveyer belt sushi at Itsu
Fireworks from our window
Josephine was off from school last week for half term, so she got lots of quality time with her animals.
Our pumpkin this year
Trick or Treating. It was kind of crowded, so it was hard to get good photos.
The Dinner
Josephine dressed as a bride. Hopefully, she'll get over the thumb-sucking thing before her actual wedding day.
Pascale drew this pic of her imaginary friends
Josephine with Uncle Joe
Pascale with Father Christmas. Josephine fell asleep on the way there, so she did not get to see him.
